Sunday, 28 August 2016

Kwik Sew 3531: my new favourite tailored jacket

Kwik Sew patterns are the quiet achievers of the pattern world, in my humble opinion. Most of the pattern envelopes are rather dowdy, and apart from using photographs now instead of just drawings they haven't changed much over the years. But their drafting is solid, they offer the essential basics and every now and then one of their patterns will really catch my eye which is the case with this one. Behold my new favourite work jacket:

I chose to make the shorter length jacket mainly because I like cropped jackets but also because if you look at that photograph on the pattern envelope there are drag lines from the side seam down towards the centre front which I figure had something to do with the length.

The fabric is the real superstar of this project though - it's a vintage wool tweed piece I bought from the remnants table at the Remnant Warehouse earlier this year. The base colour is a beautiful peach shade, with flecks in varying colours. It sewed and pressed like a dream.

The jacket is rather boxy as there are no darts or shaping in the back. I was tempted to add a centre back seam so that I could do a sway back adjustment, but I figured that because the jacket is cropped it would still look ok, especially when worn with a well fitting pencil skirt:

The other feature I used is a vintage button I bought from an aptly named shop called Buttons Buttons Buttons down in The Rocks (a tourist district in Sydney) - I bought three of them years ago for a failed project (another *cough cough* UFO) but I decided it looks better on this project. It really is the centrepiece of the jacket front, and acts like a brooch so I tend to keep my accessories with this jacket very simple.

The other feature I really love about this pattern is the inseam buttonhole which you can see in the photograph above. It's such a neat finish and of course saves the stress of doing a neat buttonhole.

The pattern is for an unlined jacket, but I drafted a lining for mine as I really dislike jackets without linings. It's much easier to put them on if the inside is slippery, and I also lack the patience to do fancy seam finishes such as Hong Kong bindings. I found a perfect colour matching piece of China silk in my stash picked up from an opshop a long time ago, it was like it was waiting for this project it's so perfectly matched:

The only other change I made was with the button placement on the front. I chose the button placement when I was wearing the jacket and just where the fronts sat best - my buttons are a bit lower and more towards the centre than where they are indicated on the pattern. And looking at these photos I can see that I've put the outside button on the opposite side to the pattern, oops! I'm sure there's some convention about which side women's jackets are supposed to button up, but since I made this and no one else will be wearing it, it suits me just fine!

Although my fabric has a weight suitable for a jacket, I used some iron on interfacing on the neckbands, facings, part of the fronts, upper back and sleeve heads for extra structure.

So overall I can highly recommend this pattern if you're looking for a simple and easy to make jacket. Because there isn't a traditional notched collar needing traditional tailoring techniques such as pad stitching along a roll line or welt pockets it comes together very quickly. I've already worn this jacket several times to work since I made it a few weeks ago and I've received quite a few compliments on it - clearly a winner!